{"id":319,"date":"2011-08-24T14:33:32","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T14:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/preacherskid\/?p=319"},"modified":"2011-08-24T14:37:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T14:37:42","slug":"the-voice-of-god-it%e2%80%99s-hard-to-hear-a-whisper-but-worth-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/preacherskid\/2011\/08\/the-voice-of-god-it%e2%80%99s-hard-to-hear-a-whisper-but-worth-listening.html","title":{"rendered":"The voice of God? It\u2019s hard to hear a whisper, but worth listening"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have always loved the weather, relished feeling the elements. Ever since I was a boy, it has been that way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d go barefoot in the snow, stand in a downpour, huddle in a cave opening to watch sheet lightning rip the skies open, or stand on the bow of a ship in rough seas to feel the salt spray sting my face.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m older, I\u2019m a bit more careful. But I still love getting caught in a summer rainstorm. That was my thought this past weekend when, with showers and thunderstorms forecast for the evening, I decided to take a hike with my dogs \u2013 Callie, our border collie, and Roxie, our \u201cchug\u201d (Chihuahua-Pug) \u2013 along a riverside trail<\/em> <\/a>winding through a nature preserve.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sometimes, life gets you wet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a five-mile excursion, around 90 degrees when we started out. The shade of the trees and a slight breeze off the river were pleasant. I loved it, the dogs loved it. We were halfway back, about a mile and a half from home, when the forecast came true \u2013 and then some.<\/em><\/p>\n

The winds picked up, the lightning and thunder swept in, the rain \u2013 and then grape-sized hail \u2013 came as drenching curtains, bending the trees over the trail and shredding foliage.<\/p>\n

Roxie, game and yet just seven pounds wet (and she was very wet<\/em>) was soon up to her chest in the water gushing over the trail. Callie hunkered forward and plowed through, occasionally looking up at me with an \u201cAre we there yet?\u201d<\/em> look. I was soaked, and some of those hail stones stung. I picked up a shivering Roxie and tucked her under my chin and cap, and slogged on.<\/p>\n

If someone (other than the late Mahalia Jackson<\/a><\/em>)\u00a0had come by singing, \u201cWhen you walk through the storm, <\/a>hold your head up high,\u201d<\/em> I might have thrown them in the river \u2013 if<\/em> I could find it. The wind made staying on my feet a challenge, and the hail and rain were so heavy I could barely see more than a few steps ahead.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Not in Kansas, but on Jordan River Parkway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then, just when I thought I and my two \u201cTotos\u201d<\/a><\/em> would be swept up in a Wizard of Oz-<\/a><\/em>esque funnel cloud, the wind died down, the rain and hail eased and then stopped, and the sun came out once more.<\/p>\n

It was quiet for a few minutes, even the birds were silent. The only sounds were those of feet and paws slurping through the puddles and the \u00a0slight murmur of wet leaves being dried by a calm breeze.<\/p>\n

Talk to any preacher\u2019s kid, and you undoubtedly will find he or she has a few favorite passages of scripture. Afterall, PKs, willingly or not, are exposed to the Bible from an early age.<\/p>\n

There are the usual verses to memorize (John 3:16<\/a>, of course, is mandatory<\/em>) . . . but there are some we claim for ourselves for their meaning, poetic imagery, obscurity, or all three.<\/p>\n

I chucked, sloshing up the hill to home, soaking wet and my shoulders beginning tingle from my hailstone massage, as I remembered a moment from the Old Testament story of Elijah\u2019s flight into the desert from the wrath of Queen Jezebel. He was discouraged, wanting to give up that whole prophet business. A fine story with lessons both simple and profound, to be sure.<\/p>\n

But what made a passage of the book of 1st<\/sup> Kings my own was how<\/em> it portrayed God \u2013 our expectations<\/em> of and about Him versus how the Creator chooses to touch our hearts.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018\u201cGo out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Not in the tumult, but in a whisper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAnd after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>(1 Kings 19:11-13 New Living Translation)<\/p>\n

The drama of life \u2013 the way it can knock us off our feet, shake us senseless or even burn our best relationships and values into ash \u2013 grabs our attention, our emotions.<\/p>\n

We somehow expect them to say something to us, don\u2019t we? How many times have we all asked, \u201cWhy me?\u201d \u201cWhat does this mean?\u201d<\/em> And all we hear is silence.<\/p>\n

But maybe it isn\u2019<\/em>t that there is no<\/em> answer. Perhaps, we just aren\u2019t listening to the silence, waiting for the wind to subside, for the rubble to stop falling around us, or for the flames to flicker and grow cold.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to hear a whisper, but always worth listening.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have always loved the weather, relished feeling the elements. Ever since I was a boy, it has been that way. I\u2019d go barefoot in the snow, stand in a downpour, huddle in a cave opening to watch sheet lightning rip the skies open, or stand on the bow of a ship in rough seas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,17,223,3,1],"tags":[262,263,260,259,261],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-nature","category-health","category-pks","category-uncategorized","tag-border-collie","tag-chug","tag-dogs","tag-hiking","tag-walking-inthe-rain"],"yoast_head":"\nThe voice of God? 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